Open Letter to the Suspension Community

Open Letter to the Suspension Community

The ISA began as a concept in 2013 to form an organization that would serve as an asset to the suspension community as a whole. It took several years and numerous growing pains but finally, in March of 2017, we were able to open General Membership and are proud to announce that our organization currently has 125 members from around the world.

I’m sure many of you have questions. What is the ISA? Should I join? Is the ISA the “suspension police”? What’s in store for the future of the organization?

First, let’s begin with our Mission Statement:

The International Suspension Alliance is a non-profit organization dedicated to the purpose of unifying the body suspension community through education, outreach, and the dissemination of information pertaining to the safe practice of human suspension to practitioners, the general public, and health care professionals.

The key words in our mission statement are unification, education, outreach, and disseminating information. The ISA exists to serve the suspension community not control what you/we do. The second most important words in our mission statement are practitioners, general public, and health care professionals. Our goal is to not only give the suspension community a voice but to enable all to be able to share information with those interested in our art form.

By joining the ISA you become part of this unified voice. We are all unique people from different cultures, however, the one thing we have in common is our passion for suspension. Joining the ISA means that you become part of the team that disseminates information to those seeking answers and knowledge.

The ISA does not exist to control practitioners; policing the world of suspension would be detrimental to the community as whole. We are here to help, not hinder.

So what are the goals of the organization? We have so many; these are simply short list:

• Improve Communication – The ISA has been mostly quiet for quite a while. Now it’s time to begin our outreach. This open letter is just the start; we are currently reaching out to our members and those that have expressed interest in joining. Next, we will be increasing our outreach to the general public and health care professionals.

• Update Suspension FAQ – Part of our outreach is to update and improve the suspension FAQ. The current FAQ (no longer online) was compiled in 2002. With more than 16 years passed, it’s time to update that document for the thousands of people that visit suspension.org every month.

• Update suspension.org World Map – The international group listing on suspension.org is out of date. We are currently working to update the information and correct any errors in the listing. If your group would like to be added to the list please email isa@suspension.org

• Increase Event Presence – As the organization grows and our funding increases, we plan to start providing outreach and information at different conventions. This is a lofty goal and requires volunteers, print materials, signage, banners, etc.

• Perks – Joining any organization should come with perks, the ISA is no different. We are currently working with different companies and event organizers to offer discounts to our members. Of all goals listed above this is one we hope to tackle within the first quarter of 2018. If you are part of an entity that supports the suspension community and would like to offer perks to our members, please email our organization.

Ultimately the ISA cannot exist without your help. We encourage you to join and get involved.